I’M not sure I could be a teacher. Children are a tedious bunch, spending all day with the little blighters would leave me feeling positively murderous.

I suppose I could always teach PE. How hard can that be? Run around this, jump on that. It all sounds pretty straightforward. From what I recall, wearing shorts all year round is a prerequisite for sports masters. This could be problematic in my case. If you’ve seen the state of my legs, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

It’s not exactly a popular career choice these days. Young teachers are leaving the profession in their droves. Gone are the days of clocking in at 8:30, blagging through a few classes and knocking off at 3:30. A modern teacher needs to be so much more than someone who can articulate why algebra is relevant. They’re part social worker, activity organiser and crowd control. In between trying to calm an unruly rabble, there’s also the need to actually teach. It’s got to be up there with some of the most gruelling jobs around.

It’s fair to say that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, isn’t exactly popular in academic circles. In fact, he’s public enemy number one.

Despite having very limited experience in education, Gove sees himself as a radical moderniser. A man ready to upset the status quo and ruffle a few feathers in a sector that’s notoriously resistant to change. At face value, that seems reasonable. After all, we still churn out swathes of youngsters who are unable to read or write. Equally, until recently, it was almost impossible to sack a teacher for being incompetent.

The problem is, Gove has systematically failed to keep teachers on side. The pay gets worse, hours increase and the monitoring more rigorous. How to win friends and influence, Michael. More worryingly, he seems to regularly misunderstand what the job actually entails.

Despite this, the teachers have done themselves no favours. When parents are left in the lurch over childcare issues, striking will never curry favour with the public, ever. Let’s not forget, most people working outside the public sector don’t have the luxury of striking. We just have to get on with it.

I fully understand that teaching is often a thankless and stressful task. However, even if industrial action is the last resort, it’s not always viewed that way. Especially when there’s still widespread and preconceived views as to what the life of a teacher is like.